The map at the top of the pages on this site, showing services cancelled / running short / skipping stops is currently out of date due to a failure in the feed that we use to generate it.  I suspect it's been overwhelmed by the volume of issues today.  I have temporarily changed the "current running" link to point to a text based service that does apepar to be functioning as I write, and I'll review the situation if our regular feed doesn't return overnight

 
Feed now appears correct.  Temporary glitch, I think.

 
Sorry about the "outage" on cancellations map from 02:52 to 06:10 this morning.   Our "back" server had overnight issues - running again now, and I am analysing what happened.

 
What's the problem now? Did you not apply for a token?

 

The problem appears to be a disc that's 98% full on a shared server, which is failing to pick up the regular updates.  If I had time, I would switch this element onto one of our own systems ... now that it looks like it's a recurring issue.  Once I'm back at base (end of week), I may get this done, or I may decide that the experiement that I did 3 years ago in setting this up has already outlived its useful life and just put a link back in to the text system it takes the feed from.  The other alternative is to come up with a more robust system, but as we're a free site without resources I don't know how / who by for that.  Thoughts welcomed - but please don't suggest that I try to provide a 100% reliable system completely for free ... if you can provide a system yourself, please do so, and  please let me know and I'll replace the URL to my system with the one to yours 

 
I for one do find it useful - quick visual on any problems before an intended journey - if it looks like my line is affected I can get more details if needed

 
The server that generates the image will now add a "flag" line if it suspects feed problems, and that flag line will be removed when it thinks things are cleared.

Bear in mind, please, that "thinking servers" are a bit of an untried concept ... so there may be some odd results.   Will take a further look when I get back.

 
I'm doing some playing around with this;  it's "tagged" a cancellation map, but with new feeds available I can start adding in planned engineering works:



Would this sort of thing be a useful extra, or would it clutter?

Note - I have a feed that will tell me about things like Par -> Newquay and we can add that.  Interestingly, planned engineering to Falmouth has not (yet) shown up.   I also wonder about showing individual stations where trains aren't stopping at times due to engineering;  there's some stuff at Tilehurst or Pangborne this weekend, for example.

 
Useful

 
OK ... I noticed no thick lines across the map at all - and it's the middle of the day.  Turns out that our feed is working - simply that FGW are not reporting any issues.   Looks like good news all around!

 
FGW dont appear to have reported any Live Updates for a couple of days. Are they having a particularly good weekend, or is something amiss?

 
I had noticed that. I couldn't find any cancellations on the live departure boards. I did have a FGW text yesterday about a failed train affecting services between Exeter and Reading but I couldn't find any evidence of it.

 
Whenever I see a clear map, I check back to FGW site and indeed it has been clear.   I also over the weekend checked the JourneyPlanner and that had no reports either.   They never have reported absolutely everything, I don't think ... not delays, etc, so the failed train may simply have been running very late but still with its regular calling pattern.

No reports as I write, but then I wouldn't expect them at this hour.   I'll keep an eye open in the morning peak.

 
Still nothing..and we are now into morning peak territory.

I wonder if they have temporarily suspended Live Updates due to significant diagram re-working as part of the cascade of more Class 150 units into FGW?

 
The NRE Oxford live departures board has a warning

Service updates

    Trains between Reading and Oxford are being delayed by up to 30 minutes. More details available from the Service Disruption area of the National Rail Enquiries website.

... but there's nothing about this on the FGW website.

 
And the NRE Paddington arrivals board is reporting that the 06:07 Banbury - Paddington was cancelled after Oxford.

 
7 updates on an alternative feed, but First Great Western are reporting "no service updates" on their front page.  There isn't a note there to tell us that it's not being updated / provided at present, but (as I write) giving a misleading impression that everything is running, nothing is shortened, nor are there catering problems. 

I have added a not across the map on our site to indicate that we have a feed issue.  That's a temporary measure only - but for the moment I'm not sure how temporary / how, if and when we'll be able to bring a feed back through this site.

 
Readers may like to note that this map was instigated as a short term test a long time ago.  I expected to run it for just a handful of days, but in fact it's run for years - I'm actually amazed how long it's lasted and how well it's done.  There's an alternative listing - though not of graphic form - at http://www.journeycheck.com/firstgreatwestern/ .   

 
I have just called a colleague in control who confirmed they have been unable to update since Saturday..it's being worked on..so I guess just got to wait and see when the issue is fixed..

 
Many thanks for that Ollie, you may not realised just how much I appreciate that feedback;  I rather have my hands full this week ... https://www.wellho.info/pix/gz1.jpg ... and I' going to leave the feed labelled "as is" for a while rather than do what could turn out to be short-life work with a parallel fix.

 
Looks like it may be fixed ... I've removed the "banner" on the page and will keep an eye on it

 
Am I paranoid or have FGW lost their network updates facility again. Alternatively has everything been perfect for the last six hours?

 
Nope. Looks like the feed is down again....

 
Too late for me to tell if it's up or down (alternative feed reports no problems either as it's rather late).  I will keep my eyes on it but am currently away and only here patchily to do any technical stuff.

 

 
I have today Posted a Meessage on the Smoke and Mirrors Board on GWR Publicity Machine Topic thinking I had seen it on two boards.  The message is to say that a slight improvement has been noticed but only perhaps a couple of instances of short formed shewn and no catering failures shewn at all.    Aoilogies for posting on wrong thread.

 
The "Cancellation Map" has been displayed on this site for nearly 5 years. That's a remarkable lifespan for a little script that I wrote between Christmas and New year 2006, when service records were truly awful, as First Great Western struggled to run a recast timetable with a fleet that had been drastically reduced as a result of their franchise bid and the stated stock requirements therein.

Changes to the data feed within the last couple of days, which I'm fairly sure are permanent changes, mean that I need to rethink how this facility is provided (and indeed if it's still needed, whether it's still practical to provide it, if it could be provided better, etc). That may take a couple of days, and even after that couple of days I may only have an indication of possible solutions / outcomes rather than a returned live feed.   I'll update this thread further by 9 a.m. Monday at the latest.

 
Some data has been restored onto the map - you can see the end points of services for which issues are currently reported, with the end points joined in blue.  If your line's effected, you can use journeycheck at http://www.journeycheck.com/firstgreatwestern/ for details. You will also see thin grey lines to give you some indication of current engineering works.

I'm going to leave the map running in this mode on the live site for a few days;  it's in a test mode, and I'm gathering background data so that any extra information offered via a new feed can be checked against a basket of incidents.  Of course, if FGW have an excellent week and nothing goes wrong, my test data will be limited and it may take longer to do the necessary testing - and of course I hope that happens 

 
With the forecast for the week ahead not looking too good, particularly at the end of the week, I suspect there may be some disruption to services to give you some test data.

 

We'll see ... I'm just back to add a demo example to show what the diagram looks like at present with a disruption shown (I am always an optimist, Timmer, and hope it's clear more often that not!)

 
Well done for getting that back again so quickly.

I've always found it very useful - one look at this and you can see if it's worth looking at the details on the FGW site.

 
I've had a further chance to update the diagram ... I thinks it's still "can do better" but I have cancellations shown in red again, sort workings and missing stop trains in blue, and lines thickened to represent the number of trains involved on any particular route.  I've also added a positive (green!) piece of text to confirm that our feed's reporting that everything in FGW land is hunky dory.  Let's hope we see that a lot 

 


A heartfelt vote of thanks from me, too, grahame - for the reason posted above!  Chris 

 
Hmmm ... the devil's in the detail.    Sorry about the spurious lines a short while ago ... St James' Park was temporarily relocated into the Irish Sea due to the different treatment of apostrophes under the new and old feeds 

Please let me know if you spot any other stations that have been relocated somewhere off Rosslare ...

 
I'm noting a red (for cancelled) line where we should be showing a blue (changed) on one service this morning, and another service showing the opposite way.   I have had very occasional reports like this in the past and am aware it happens once a month or so. It's on my list of "to fix" but can't be a priority and it's hard to reproduce as data changes.

 
I can cast a fresh pair of eyes over the code if you would like me too.

 
Spurious lines this evening are Ledury, which has been relocate to the Irish Sea somewhere off Dublin.  I'll fax when I'm not moving - don'l like editing files on the server from a moving train in case the connection drops.

 

Its not just me wandering when FGW started operating to Ireland then!

 
I do like the idea of Ledbury re-locating to somewhere near Dublin!

 

Yeah .. but we haven't done a poll to see if that's a majority view, so we really ought put it back where it ought to be 

I have just relocated trains terminating at "Ledbury" so that they show halfway between Malvern and Hereford.  Safe to do now that I'm off the train and in Cambridge ...

 

Another couple of incidents this morning ... and I *think* I have it fixed.  Route cause turned out to be when there are both formation changes which do not involve changes in stopping pattern such as:


and cancellations such as


at the same time.   The display error was purely the colour ... lines were in right places.  As a (temporary? test) measure, we now have cancellations in red (as before), trains that are declared as amended like the one above in light blue, and other amendments in a darker blue. This subtle difference will help me spot recurrences of the circumstance and let me check further.

 
The map is showing what I call short term cancellations and changes - changes (as I understand it) notified within the last day or so.  As certain service changes were made early in the weekend, they are no longer short term and are NOT being shown.

Specifically:
a) London to West Country services are running in two sections - London to Taunton / Tiverton and Exeter to Penzance
b) The line from Exeter to Barnstaple is completely closed, with all trains cancelled
However - our map gives no indication of these problems.  Sorry. We can only rely on our data feed ... and the map may (in the present and unusual (?) circumstances paint a better picture than it should.

 
As soon as I wrote that, some of the Barnstaple cancellations came up ... THANK YOU whoever 

And I have added a note about the London - Exeter service being split.  I'll keep an eye on that and if the feed starts to include the changes (and not just the changes to the changes!) I'll clear the message.   Sticky-plaster solution, I hope it's clear!

 
This is something that has caught me out. If the planned timetable is to be changed - as it has to in the current weather - this should be published on the FGW website and then the Journeycheck page used to show last minute changes to that.

With the last closure at Cowley Bridge it was hard to tell what was happening at times because the new train plan was not published and Journeycheck didn't show deviations from the normal service.

I know journey planner gets updated but that isn't always the best way of relaying the information.

There obviously is an electronic copy of the planned service as a sample copy was posted on here before. That just needs tidying up to make it more customer friendly and then put on the FGW website.

 

The JourneyCheck pages (http://www.journeycheck.com/firstgreatwestern/) are listing the Exeter Central-Barnstaple trains that are cancelled today - the Exmouth-Barnstaple ones (ie most of them!) that have also been cancelled aren't being shown though

There's no obviously logical reason for this - after all, they are showing all the Newquay and Looe trains, which is why the red blobs in West Cornwall are bigger that the North Devon ones.

 
FGW had basically uploaded an emergency timetable today and yesterday, so that what you search for in National Rail Enquiries and the like is what is running. That meant no through London-Penzance services were shown, instead London-Tiverton Parkway and Exeter-Penzance services were shown. It's probably easier for passengers than what Cross Country had done. They are just showing their normal timetable, with shorter notice alterations added on the day. It makes it much harder for passengers to plan their journeys. Of course the landslip at Teignmouth today through that out the water somewhat.

 
Now that the dust has settled (or rather that the "waters have subsided"), I've been giving a bit of thought to what our little map does, what it should do, and what it could do.

Conclusion (1) ... at times of prolonged, mass disruption it's not at all obvious what the "baseline" that we're comparing services against should be;  we're never going to have something that's totally natural and obvious both to regular travellers who would typically know what's been going on, and occasional visitors.

Conclusion (2) ... we should probably leave "as is" to mirror JourneyCheck (any awkward choices they make ... they're making for use too)

Corollory ... at exceptional times, we can add an extra blanket messages over the map.  We're done this several times in the last fortnight, indicating (a) the split of London to West services and (b) the lack on any trains in 25th and 26th.

 
The Cancellation map seems to have a very odd blue line at the moment. Or is there really an amended Paddington Dublin Service?

I know I am opening an old thread, but it is exactly the same subject. Mods feel free to move

 
Looks as if they've laid an 'extra Cardigan' on, as its so cold crossing the Bay !!

 

No - it's an old subject, so right to re-open.   Our system hasn't heard of "Ash" before and believes that Cardigan Bay is a good point to put out the fire ..

 
... and I have now told our system roughly where it should be.

 
It may feature for a while too this afternoon... the problem is a lack of a toilet on a unit doing the Reading/Ash shuttle but the set cannot be swapped off with one from the depot because of the engineering work at Reading today. (However at least the blue line will be in the right place now!)

 

A place I know only from above. Ledbury was one of the turning points for my first ever solo cross-country flight. Ledbury was chosen by my instructor because of the layout of the roads and railway, which makes it a very easy place to identify positively. So I went from Filton to Abergavenny, then to Ledbury, then back down the Wye, doing a lap of honour over the hotel where my wife and her sister were having tea, before a flawless landing at Filton despite having the sun in my eyes. I have also landed once at Ledbury airfield, the only time I have ever been warned not to continue my approach if I see a bus or lorry coming, or the ferry from Dublin for that matter.

 
Today's turn to be dumped in the Irish Sea ... Reading West.   Now returned to the Reading area.

 

Some would say the best location for it .................. mind others see it more cort de voir 

 

I came across a new one on Sunday ... there were buses leaving the station forecourt at Swindon for "Reading and Reading Only" ... and the pedant in me wondered about this other Reading station I hadn't heard of.  "General", yes.  "West", yes.  But "Only" ...

 
It's on the cort de voir

 

 

Merci beaucoup, Didier Drogba!

 

Or South?

 
And today it's Okehampton!

 
OK ... fixed

 
Digby & Sowton has also been re-located from the Irish Sea ...

 
Member '6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01' will no doubt be relieved to see that ... 

 
... now living in Gillingham (Dorset).

 
The map i struggling this morning - or rather the data feed behind it.   Seems like there are a few problems on the lines (such as flood water and the effect of winds) that are generating a lotta lotta traffic.  Rather than just present a blank map as if everything's OK, I've tweaked the software to tell you that the feed's not coming through properly.

Note that maps are cached in your browser, and a SHIFT-Reload may well bring through an updated map rather quicker than simply waiting for a page that reloads it for you.

 

31 showing cancelled (in the next 2 hours) and 48 service amendments (in the next 2hours), can hardly see the map through thick red and blue lines!

 
Now 44 and 50 respectively! 

 
... and now 77 and 43 respectively! 

 
Despite the storms and flooding hitting the real world network the resilience and reliability of the cancellation map in these apocalyptic conditions has been excellent   

And at times some very pretty images 

 
Did you speak too soon Electric train, or is this a graphical representation of a south coast tidal surge?



 

 
To my knowledge there have been four failures so far this winter. 

One (as reported by BNM) is that strange graphic above; glitches like that happen (and are corrected automatically in 5 minutes) a handful of times every year; I think I know what the problem is, but it would be nontrivial to fix and virtually impossible to test as it results from a three way race condition between users that can't be easily reproduced. Message - celebrate the 99.9962% of the time it's working right 

The other three are occasions where an FGW train schedule was modified to terminate a train at a station they don't normally turn at - Dawlish Warren being the most recent.  These errors result in a line being drawn on the map to an obviously erroneous location somewhere off Rosslare, and are fixed when I notice the problem or someone tells me - usually within an hour or so.   I COULD modify the software to silently omit these lines, but I've chosen to let them happen as it brings the problem to attention very quickly and lets us sort the issue out - usually no more than a couple of minutes of work.

I have the luxury with issues like these that (a) I can sit in a quiet corner and fix them without having to go on site  in the nasty weather and (b) 99.99% is good enough in terms of reliability as there's no health and safety issue that puts lives at risk if we get it wrong 0.01% of the time.  I'm so glad that I don't have to go out into the cold and fix to a 100% level like the rail industry folks do, and for which we don't thank them enough.

 
Hear, hear!

 
Yes, I'd also like to add my thanks here to grahame, for his work 'behind the scenes' in maintaining the cancellation map on this forum. 

I also echo his 'thank you' to all of the railway staff who are out there in all weathers working to restore our train services in the Great Western area.

 
Glitchy feed this morning - it looks like our upstream data supplier is moving servers / changing IP addresses as so we're seeing some "no data feed" messages.   I'm keeping an eye on this and expect it to right itself in due course, but cached DNS information may last for a number of hours or even a day in these circumstances.

 
Might explain why some trains vanished from the "Ticket finder" today.Thankfully, Mrs FT,N! trusted my reading of items such as FGW's twitter feed, Real Time Trains, and some chicken entrails, and caught her train without incident.

 
Sorry about the brief glitch this morning ... line to Fastnet again.  System didn't know where Nailsea & Backwell was 

 
Hmm. That was an interesting one.

I received a text alert from First Great Western at 08:45 this morning, telling me,

 

And just added Patchway ...

 
Morchard Road - that great transport hub - needs adding to the map. Or have services overshot the buffers at Barnstaple and set out across the Irish Sea?

 

Passed it last Saturday, and it was still in situ, betwixt Crediton and Barnstaple.

 
Not sure what's going on today. Some sort of emergency engineering works between Didcot Parkway and Oxford? 

Some lovely map art attached!

 
There are currently 24 service alterations, and someone is trying use every page of the excuse book! Earlier emergency engineering, obstruction on the line, problem under investigation, problem with an earlier service, safety checks having been made earlier  - all these get a look-in.

 
... and the most impressive is being reported on JourneyCheck as

    19:43 London Paddington to Oxford due 21:31
    This train will be delayed at Didcot Parkway and is expected to be 60 minutes late.
    This train will call additionally at Didcot Parkway.
    This is due to earlier emergency engineering works.
    Last Updated :23/11/2014 10:49

Note the time against 'last updated'.

 

Is Peter Capaldi at the controls?

 

There seems to be a lot of 'emergency' engineering works between Didcot and Oxford. Didn't this happen last weekend? Urgent as in the line will close after a certain time. 

 

Consequences?

The gate from the Llama farm at Arthur's Crossing got damaged, and caused a problem under investigation.  When it became clear something was amiss, some safety check needed to made, and indeed there proved to be an obstruction of the line (a.k.a. a Llama) which had to be shoo-ed back into the field, and emergency engineering works (tieing the cate closed with a piece of twine) were needed. This all held up the train to Little Malvern , which in turn delayed the return service (because of the problem with an earlier service.)

Who would want to be a Llama Farmer?

 
As the Fat Controler is so fond of saying Llama 'You have caused confusion and delay !'
Honestly you could not make it up  Or could you?.
          WP.

 

Cuidado!! Llamas!! (Look out, there are llamas).

 
The Llama is a quadruped  ( it is bigger than a frog )

 
La llama, que se llama "Llama", est^ en llamas.

Yes, 'llama' in Spanish is a homograph with three different meanings.

 

Well spotted - a famous sketch.

 
I have just hauled in St Andrews Road from the Fastnet Rock (home on my map of all unknown stations) to a location somewhere between Severn Beach and Avonmouth!

 

... is probably all you need to know about St Andrews Road.


I write as a fervent supporter of the Severn Beach Line, by the way. 

 
St Andrew's Road is getting at least one more semi-regular passenger. Me.

Re-routeing of a local bus to serve that area means I have increased options for starting/ending rail journeys. Walk or bus to Shirehampton, bus to Avonmouth, or bus to St Andrew's Road.

And if Henbury re-opens I'll have another option.   

 

Surely you mean "when"?

 
I start to see how you might change your id when the Filton bank work is complete

 

And a couple of slightly larger stations -
Heathrow Terminal 4
Heathrow Terminal 5

Which have appeared on our feed for the first time.   Does this mean Heathrow is becoming more a part of the main network  and that you can now buy tickets to any UK station there?   

 
Somewhere else has headed off to the Fastnet Rock this morning.

Is it Heathrow 1-2-3?

 

Nope - 'twas Gomshall

 
... and terminating a train at Dorking West now!